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The half-naked body found in Ottawa's west end Wednesday belonged to a troubled woman who seemed to be struggling with addiction, neighbours said.

Police confirmed Thursday that 39-year-old Pamela Kosmack of Ottawa was the woman found dead under suspicious circumstances the morning before at Howe Street and Poulin Avenue, close to Mud Lake and Britannia Park. Police released no other details.

Investigators stood guard Thursday morning outside the third-floor apartment where Kosmack lived on New Orchard Avenue, about two kilometres from where her body was discovered.

She had been there for four or five years, and at one point had shared the apartment with a boyfriend, but he had not been seen since December, neighbours said.

Maria Pool, who has lived in the building for 13 years, said she would often see Kosmack around — at the bus stop or the mall, most recently a week or two ago.

"She was bubbly. She would see me and say, 'Hi, Maria, hi, Maria — you look good!'" Pool recalled with a laugh.

But lately, Kosmack had lost a lot of weight, and there were rumours that she was struggling with drug addiction, Pool said.

"She was very erratic, her behaviour... I saw her walking by, and she didn't look very good – [she was] walking really fast, like she was really lost."

On several recent occasions, Kosmack buzzed Pool's apartment at 3:30 a.m. asking to be let into the building until Pool asked her not to do that anymore.

A couple of Kosmack's neighbours recalled that one day she had gone from door-to-door in the building trying to sell an air conditioner for $20. She said she wanted the money to take her teenage daughter shopping.

Other tenants also complained about the sound of shouting and arguments coming from Kosmack's apartment in the middle of the night, and some had tried unsuccessfully to get her evicted, her neighbours reported.

Kosmack's body was spotted at the edge of the woods around 6:15 a.m. Wednesday by a woman walking her dog along the bike path.